In many businesses, a wide variety of devices are utilized that need to conduct communications over a standard telephone line from time to time. Technological advances have enabled facsimile machines to become standard equipment in every office environment, from large corporations to the smallest businesses. Facsimile machines operate by encoding an image on a paper into a series of tones that are then transmitted over the telephone network to a receiving facsimile machine. The receiving facsimile machine decodes the transmitted message and reconstructs the image. Standard facsimile protocols for effectuating communications between facsimile machines have been defined, and most facsimile machines operate using one or more such protocols. The typical connection method for most facsimile machines is via a telephone line of a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). It is therefore necessary to provision a telephone line for use by each facsimile machine.
Typical office environments also include additional devices utilized for efficient operation of the office which also need to conduct communications over a standard telephone line from time to time. For example, many office environments include one or more postage meters, postage scales, and mailing equipment for the processing of mail, as well as several personal computers.
In many commercial applications, it is necessary to be able to remotely diagnose, update, refill and retrieve information from such devices. For instance, postage scales may require postage rate updates from time to time so that the correct postage for a particular mail piece can be determined based upon the weight of that mail piece. A postage scale may also need servicing from time to time and the ability to remotely diagnose the condition of the scale is useful for such purpose. Similarly, a postage meter needs to have funds refilled periodically, and may also need servicing from time to time, thereby requiring remote access. One way to achieve the remote access for such devices is to have the devices continuously connected to a telephone line to receive updated rate data or funds from a service center and to provide diagnostic data to the service center. However, such continuous connections may be cost prohibitive for the user, as each device requires its own dedicated telephone line. Providing a dedicated telephone line for each device will significantly increase costs, as it is then necessary for the user to obtain and pay for multiple telephone lines, one for each piece of equipment.
Another way to achieve remote access for several devices without providing multiple telephone lines is to provide some type of switching mechanism to switch between the several devices coupled to a single telephone. Utilizing a switching mechanism can be cumbersome and awkward, especially if it is necessary to switch between devices several times during the course of a day. Additionally, if a data transfer is to be received and the switch is not set to the right device, the data transfer will be unable to be completed.
Thus, there exists a need for a device that can receive, transmit and store data transfers intended for one of several devices, such as, for example, software upgrades, funds transfer, diagnostic information, and the like, and provide the received data to the appropriate device, thereby eliminating the need for multiple telephone lines or a switching mechanism to switch between the multiple devices.